Unai Emery praised the versatility of Matty Cash after the Poland international’s first Aston Villa goals in over a year helped them to a 3-1 win at Burnley. There was speculation Cash could be on his way out of Villa Park this summer, but the 26-year-old showed what an asset he can be with two goals in the opening 20 minutes of his 100th Villa appearance, twice threatening to make it a hat-trick. Cash replaced Leon Bailey on the right wing in the only unenforced change to the Villa side that beat Hibernian 5-0 in the Europa Conference League play-off in midweek – Robin Olsen replaced the injured Emi Martinez in goal – and caught the eye with an energetic display. “He’s versatile, he played before as a winger, he’s playing with us in a back four sometimes, sometimes lower, but we used him in pre-season playing higher, as a winger,” Emery said. “He helped us a lot today defensively and offensively and then he used the moment to remember when he played more at Nottingham Forest as a winger. His two goals were a good example for us but we know he can be versatile.” That versatility can be key for Villa at a time when injuries are limiting Emery’s options. The Spaniard named only eight players, two of them goalkeepers, on the bench, and admitted Villa could be active again before the transfer window closes. “There are still four days to finish the transfer window and we have to be ready,” Emery said. “We have to be ready in case someone is leaving, in case we have a good opportunity to add another player with us. “Always in my teams I was working and I am ready at the end if someone can come with us or someone can leave.” Villa’s biggest move in the market so far has been the signing of Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen for a reported £51million. The France forward combined with Cash to create Villa’s second of the afternoon before his 61st-minute strike, his second Villa goal, settled it after Lyle Foster got Burnley back into the match. Learning comes at a price in the Premier League Vincent Kompany “His adaptation is going fast but he needs this adaptation each match for him to know better his team mates and then where in our structure is his best position,” Emery said. “He is a player who is versatile as well. “It’s very important for him and for the team, his capacity to assist, to score goals.” Defeat leaves Burnley without a point after their opening two Premier League matches, both home defeats after the 3-0 loss to Manchester City a fortnight ago. “Learning comes at a price in the Premier League,” manager Vincent Kompany said. “I didn’t think we started the game badly, we had moments, we just didn’t manage to get a real grip on the game and there was always the threat of Aston Villa counters. “In the second half we built momentum, the goal helped us for that definitely, and just at the peak of that momentum we conceded the goal and that was a little bit the story of the game.” Kompany handed a debut to Hannes Delcroix, meaning six of the starting XI were new signings this summer. The manager admitted there will be a bedding-in period. “It’s a conscious choice,” he said. “You look at the bottom of the league and you find every flavour – teams that are settled and have not changed and teams that have changed. “For us, we want to move forward. I’ve seen enough in our team to know that we make a game out of games. Every game there is something for us, and if that continues I believe we’ll have enough results.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live England confirm Jonny May as Anthony Watson’s replacement in World Cup squad Danni Wyatt stars as Southern Brave beat Northern Superchargers in Hundred final Cian Healy left out of Ireland’s 33-man Rugby World Cup squad due to injury

Bills running back Nyheim Hines just suffered a season-ending injury. Here's what it means for Buffalo's RB room in 2023.Buffalo Bills running back Nyheim Hines suffered an injury during a freak jet ski accident that will cause him to miss the entire 2023 season. As first reported by T...

Add coach Shane Beamer to South Carolina's injury list with a broken bone in his right foot following his team's 41-39 loss to Florida

The Lions' hype train screeched to a halt after Week 7's blowout loss to the Ravens. Here are some players who were exposed.

New England defender DeJuan Jones replaced Joe Scally on the United States roster for Tuesday night’s exhibition against Oman at St. Paul, Minnesota

Zambia’s creditors are close to agreeing to a long-awaited debt restructuring deal that will allow the International Monetary

Wild Youth face strong competition against favourites Sweden and Finland in Tuesday's semi-final.

Boston Red Sox fans have long been asking for reliever Ryan Brasier to get DFA'd or released. On Monday, they got their wish.For the past two seasons, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Boston Red Sox fan who wasn't asking for the organization to move on from Ryan Brasier.The 35-...

North Carolina State quarterback Brennan Armstrong threw for 155 yards and ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wolfpack to a 24-14 road win over UConn in the season opener for both teams

Unai Emery said he has plenty more to offer as Aston Villa boss after being nominated for the Premier League manager of the season award. Emery has overseen an impressive transformation at Villa Park since replacing Steven Gerrard in October last year, lifting them from fifth-bottom to the brink of European football next season. The 51-year-old Spaniard is on a six-man shortlist for the managerial award, alongside Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi, Newcastle’s Eddie Howe and Fulham boss Marco Silva. When asked about his nomination, Emery told a press conference: “We want to take some trophies or be respected for our work, but I’m trying to be focused every day on getting better and trying to improve. “Our way here has only just started and I’ve only been here for 10 per cent of the time I want to be here, trying to improve, trying to build a strong project and get our objectives. For now, I’m proud of everybody here.” Villa have won 14 and lost only six of his 26 top-flight games in charge and remain in contention for the final Europa League spot. Emery, a four-time Europa League winner as manager with Sevilla (three times) and Villarreal, and also a runner-up with Arsenal, is renowned for an intense approach to his work. He said: “I always try to enjoy my work, and I do enjoy it every day. I feel passion for my work. “When we are playing and facing big challenges every week, every month, every year, you have to be very focused and spend a lot of time on getting the best results possible. “When I can have two days off, I enjoy it and I’m trying to take my mind out of my work – not completely, but I enjoy doing different things. “When I am focused here, preparing the training sessions, preparing for matches, trying to complete our work, of course I am spending a lot of hours here.” Villa are level on points with seventh-placed Tottenham, who occupy the Europa Conference League berth, after last week’s 2-1 win against the Londoners and play at Champions League hopefuls Liverpool on Saturday. Emery said he was relishing the challenge at Anfield, adding: “They have very high-level players and a good bench to use in the second half, and they also have a very good coach in (Jurgen) Klopp. “The crowd there are supporting them a lot. That is what we are going to face. I want to play against them, preparing the match and taking our moments. “We want to be successful, more than them in 90 minutes. That is the difficulty we are going to face. We need to be clinical.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Luke Wood says playing for Lancashire ‘my pride and joy’ ahead of Blast opener Jordan Henderson knows Liverpool will miss James Milner and Roberto Firmino Barry Bannan dedicates Sheffield Wednesday’s stunning comeback to Darren Moore

Nolan Schanuel is being called up by the Los Angeles Angels, 40 days after he was the 11th overall pick in this year’s amateur draft

Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan has spoken out on the redevelopment of the Anfield Road End after the project stalled.